CH8 - Survey Research

Question 1

survey research

Answer 1

quantitative social research technique - systematically ask many people the same questions then record and analyze answers

Question 2

Can ask in survey about

Answer 2

Behavior - how frequently did you do this

Attitudes/opinions/beliefs - what do you think

Characteristics - demographics

Expectations - do you plan to do this? what do you predict

Self-classification - political stance, social class

Knowledge - who is prime minister

Question 3

Advise against using surveys to ask what kind of question?

Answer 3

Why questions unless you want to discover subjective understanding and informal theory - does not substitute development of causal theory

Question 4

Limitation of survey research

Answer 4

what people say may differ from what people do

Question 5

Survey research is often called

Answer 5

Correlational

can use questions as control to approximate for causality

Question 6

Survey researcher follows what kind of approach

Answer 6

Deductive

theoretical or applied research problem and end with empirical measurement and data analysis

Question 7

interview schedule/questionnaire

Answer 7

set of questions to read to the respondent by an interviewer who also records responses

Question 8

Steps to survey research

Answer 8

1- hypotheses, type of survey, response categories, layout

2- plan how record data, pilot

3 - target population, sampling frame, sample size, select sample

4 - locate respondents, conduct interviews, record data

5 - enter data into computers, recheck all data, statistical analysis

6- methods and findings in research report, present findings to others for critique and eval

Question 9

Administration of survey research requires…

Answer 9

Organization and accurate record keeping

Question 10

three principles for writing effective survey questions

Answer 10

keep it clear

keep it simple

keep the respondents perspective in mind

Question 11

What to avoid when writing questions

Answer 11

1. avoid jargon, slang, abbreviations
2. Avoid ambiguity, confusion, vagueness
3. Avoid emotional language - adjectives
4. Avoid prestige bias - most doctors say
5. Avoid double-barrelled questions
6. Do not confuse beliefs with reality
7. Avoid leading questions - you don’t smoke do you?
8. Avoid asking questions beyond respondents responsibilities - how did you feel when you were 6, what do you know about this
9. Avoid false premises - post office is open too many hours - should the hours be 4 hrs later or open earlier - cant oppose the entire premise
10. Avoid asking about distant future - attitudes
11. Avoid double negatives
    12 - Overlapping categories 10-15, 15-20

Question 12

Threatening questions

Answer 12

Respondents likely to cover up or lie about their true behavior or beliefs because they fear a loss of self-image or may appear to be engaging in undesirable or deviant behavior

underreport illness and disability

Question 13

techniques to increase truthful answers to threatening questions

Answer 13

Context and wording of question itself
Ask threatening questions only after a warm-up when an interviewer has developed rapport and trust with respondents - tell respondents they want honest answers.

Embedding a threatening response within more serious activities it may be made to seem less deviant

Question 14

Social Desirability

Answer 14

Respondents give a normative response or a socially acceptable answer rather than giving a truthful answer

Question 15

Mode of delivery

Answer 15

how the data were collected - telephone, in -person, over internet.

Question 16

Knowledge questions

Answer 16

Majority of public cannot correctly answer elementary geography questions or identify important political documents

Knowledge questions threatening bc participants don’t want to appear ignorant

Question 17

Skip or Contingency Questions

Answer 17

Contigency questions - question with two or more parts - answer to the first part of the question determines which of two different questions a respondent next receives

Congtigency select respondents for whom a second question is relevant - screen or skip questions

Question 18

Disadvantages of closed questions

Answer 18

-suggest ideas respondent would not otherwise have
- respondents with no opinion or no knowledge can answer anyway
- respondents frustrated bc desired answer is not a choice
- confusing if too many choices

Question 19

Disadvantages of open questions

Answer 19

-Different respondents give different degrees of detail in answers
- responses may be irrelevant or buried in useless detail
- comparisons become difficult
- coding difficult

Question 20

Closed ended questions help to reduce

Answer 20

respondent fatigue.

tendency for participants to loose interest in participating if they perceive their participation to be taking too long or requiring too much effort

Question 21

Disadvantages of a question form can be reduced by

Answer 21

mixing open-ended and closed-ended questions in a questionnaire

• change of pace, establish rapport

periodic probes or follow up questions can reveal a respondents reasoning

Question 22

partially open questions

Answer 22

respondents are given a fixed set of answers to choose from but in addition an other category is offered so they can specify a different answer

Question 23

Nonattitudes and the Middle Positions

Answer 23

Whether to include choices for neutral middle and non attitude positions

Question 24

standard format question

Answer 24

type of survey research question in which the answer categories fail to include no opinion or don’t know

Question 25

Quasi-Filter Question

Answer 25

A type of survey research question that includes the answer choice no opinion or don’t know

Question 26

Full-filter question

Answer 26

Respondents are first asked about whether they have an opinion or know about a topic then only the respondents with an opinion or knowledge are asked a specific on the topic.

Question 27

Floaters

Answer 27

respondents who lack a belief or opinion but who give an answer anyway if asked in a survey research question. Often their answers are inconsistent.

Question 28

response set bias

Answer 28

a tendency of some respondents to agree and not really decide

Question 29

order effect

Answer 29

an effect in survey research in which respondents hear some specific questions before others and the earlier questions affect their answers to later questions

Question 30

funnel sequence

Answer 30

a way to order survey research questions in a questionnaire from general to specific

Question 31

context effect

Answer 31

an effect in survey research when an overall tone or set of topics heard by a respondent affects how they interpret the meaning of subsequent questions

drunk driving law first vs. another thing first

Question 32

matrix question

Answer 32

a type of survey research question in which a set of questions is listed in a compact form together all questions sharing the same set of answer categories

Question 33

Mail and self-administered questionnaires

adv and disad

Answer 33

adv
- cheap
- wide geographical area
- mail anonymity and avoid interviewer bias

disad
- low response rates
- cannot control administration conditions
- No one is present to clarify questions or to probe for more info when incomplete answers given
- different respondents than mailed to
- cannot observe respondent’s reactions
-

Question 34

online surveys

adv & disadv

Answer 34

adv
- online surveys are fast and inexpensive
- flexible design and visual images

disadv
- sampling and unequal internet access or use
- self selection is a problem
- protecting privacy and confidentiality
- complexity of questionnaire design

Question 35

telephone interviews adv and disadv

Answer 35

adv
- Fast
- cheaper than in-person

disad
- higher cost and limited interview length
- need to have phone
- might not pick up call
- can’t use visual aids

Question 36

face to face interviews

Answer 36

adv
- highest response rates
- longest questionnaires
- observe surroundings and use non-verbal communication/visual aids

disad
- high cost
- training supervision, personnel costs,
- interviewer bias

Question 37

computer-assisted telephone interviewing

Answer 37

• survey research in which the interviewer sits in front of a computer screen and keyboard and uses the computer to read questions that are asked in a telephone interview, then enters answers directly into the computer

Question 38

Ethical survey issues

Answer 38

1. invasion of privacy - asking about personal beliefs/initimate actions
2. voluntary participation - can refuse to participate at any time - research depends on voluntary cooperation
3. exploitation of surveys and pseudosurveys - use of a survey format by someone who has no interest in learning info to persuade them to do something - political surveys spread neg info abt candidates
4. misuse of survey results or of poorly designed or purposely rigged surveys